Newspaper vending machine



' Nov. 22, 1949 s. 5. mm; 2,48 897 NEWSPAPER VENDING MACHINE Filed May25, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 STEWART .S'BLANB "QMQ/ 1 INVENTOR.

Nov. 22, 1949 s. s. BLANC NEWSPAPER VENDING MACHINE Filed May 25, 1948 2Sheets-Sheet 2 l8 #Tfi/ E 39 I 54 5a 3a INVENTOR.

STE WART 5 BLAME AT TURN Patented Nov. 22, 1949 UNITED- STATES PATENTOFFICE 2,488,897 NEWSPAPER VENDING MACHINE Stewart S. Blane, SanFrancisco, Calif.

Application May '25, 1943, Serial lea-29,169 2 Claims: (01. 312 -60)This invention relates to an improved vending machine and has particularreference to a machine particularly adapted for vending newspapers, butwhich can be utilized for vending magazines, pamphlets and many otherarticles of manufacture.

An object of the present invention is to provide a coin controllednewspaper vending machine with a specially constructed slidin drawer,which drawer, when pulled outwardly to a certain position and thenpushed back inwardly to its normal position will segregate a singlenewspaper and cause the same to be dispensed in a location available tothe customer.

Another object of the present invention is to eliminate the bottom inthe rear portion of the drawer and to provide the front portion with aninwardly angularly extending plate, which plate supports and. enclosesthe newspapers and also functions to separate the last paper from a pinrality of papers placed therein and dispense the said paper to alocation available to the customer. I A further object or the presentinvention is to secure the said angularly extending plate to the frontend portion of the drawer in a manner enabling the said plate to beadjustable for accommodating different thicknesses of newspapers.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of aspecially constructed coin controlled mechanism secured to the front endportion of the drawer, whereby the drawer is locked for protecting thepapers and capable of being unlocked and operated for vending the same.

A still further object of. the present invention is to provide a vendingmachine of the character' described that is durable, simple inconstruction, positive in operation, ecnomical to manufacture and highlyefiicient and serviceable in use.

' Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of thefollowing description. 4

vIn theacompanying drawings forming a part of the specification,-wherein for the purpose of illustration like numerals-designate likeparts throughout the same, V

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the improved vending machine,

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the vend ing machine taken online 3 of Fig. 1, looking direction of the arrow, showing the drawer inits inner and closed position,

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional fragmentary view of the lower portion ofthe machine, showing the drawer in its outer position, 7

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on line 5-5 of 3,looking in direction of the arrows, Fig. 6 is an enlarged: top plan viewof the coin control mechanism housing per se,

Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the coin controlhousing taken on line 1--l of Fig. 6, also showing the coin receivingplate and coin box and disclosing to advantage the relative positions ofthe various parts with respect to each other and to the drawer and .mainhous r Fig. 8 is an enlarged plan view of the coin re ceiving plate, and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged :elevational view of one of the coin plate lockingpins employed in the invention. 7

Referring in detail to the drawings the numeral I 0 designates the mainhousing as a. whole, substantially rectangular in shape and formed withan upper portion H and a lower portion I2, supported on a suitable baseor bottom l3. The said upper portion of the housing is formed with afront opening M into which a suitable cover I5 is positioned andhingedly secured to a shelf 6., which shelf extends: outwardly from thesaid opening and is fixed to the lower walls I! pro.- jectin from thelower housing portion l2. A suitable lock l8 locks the said cover to thetop wall of the upper housing as disclosed to advantage in Figs. 1 and2. A bottomless drawer designated as a whole by the numeral l9 andhaving oppositely disposed sidewalls 2t and 24 is slidably mounted inthe lower housing 1'2 as disclosed to advantage in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, theside walls extending outwardly from the upper housing as at 22 and 23 asillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 for accommodating the said drawer. Suitableoppositely disposed .slots 24 are formed in the walls of the drawer anda pair of bolts 'or rivets 2-5, and washers 26,, extend through the saidslots and side walls of the lower housin to properly guide the drawer,and the bottom 13 of the lower housing is grooved as at 28 to assist inguiding the same. The .front portion of the drawer is provided with apaper supporting and said plate is preferably slotted as at 3| andadjustably secured to the cross bar by suitable bolts and nuts 32 and33, whereby the space 34 between the lower portion of the plate and thebottom [3 of the lower housing can be varied for accommodating difierentthicknesses of newspapers.

The coin control mechanism is preferably positioned on the front portionofthe drawer and includes a supporting frame 35 preferably in the formof a rectangular housing, the bottom of which is secured to the crossbar 30 as at 36 and is provided with a removably secured top 31, whichtop carries the coin control mechanism housing 38 and is secured theretoin any suitable manner, a plurality of screws 39 being shown in thepresent illustration as the fastening medium. The said control mechanismhousing is formed hollow as at 46 and is slidably positioned on the coinreceiving plate 4|, which plate is preferably of elongated configurationand provided with a coin receiving opening 42 as-disclosed to advantagein Fig. 8 and is rigidly fixed to the lower housing shelf |6 asdisclosed at 43 in Fig. '7. The central front portion of the saidcontrol mechanism housing is formed of sufficient thickness to house aplurality of locking pins 44, which pins are slidably positioned insuitable holes 45 provided in the said housing. A plurality of coilsprings 46 resiliently retain the said pins against the coin receivingplate 4|. The upper end portion of the said pins preferably have anabrupt taper on the front sides thereof as at 4'! and a longer gradualtaper on the rear sides as at 48. The lower portions of the pins 44 areformed in a flat configuration as at 49 and a plurality of screws 56,having flat ends are threaded in the said housing 38 and extended inproximity to the said flat portions of the pins, whereby the pins areprevented from turning in their respective holes 43. A suitable coin box52 is removably supported on the cross bar and positioned beneath theinner upper end portion of the coin control mechanism housing 38, whichhousing is recessed in the upper end portion thereof, as at 53,providing an opening for the coins to be received in the said box. Theinner angular plate 29 is recessed as at 54 in Fig. for enabling thecoin box to be readily removed and replaced and also to assist inretaining the coin box in its proper position. The shelf l6 and the topof the coin control mechanism housing are circularly apertured as at 55and 56, respectively, providing coin receiving openings leading to theopening 42 in the plate 4| when the said control mechanism housing is inits normal position whereby the coin is directed to the said opening 42.The central portion of the said housing 38 is also provided with anopening 5'! of a smaller diameter than the opening 42 and leadingtherefrom. As the average newspaper sells for a nickel, the opening 42is made of a sue sufficient to receive the nickel and the opening 5'! ofa smaller size cap-able of preventing the nickel from falling throughbut sufficiently large for enabling a coin having a smaller diameter,such as a penny, to fall through. The same relative sizes of holes canbe provided for accommodating different diameters of coins. A suitablehandle 58 secured to the front wall of the housing 35 by screws 59 isprovided as disclosed to advantage in Figs, 1 and 3 to facilitate theopening and closing of the drawer 9.

The newspapers, shown in dot and dash lines, are designated by thenumeral El] and are placed in the drawer with their folded portionsposi- 4 tioned toward the front of the same and supported on the innerextending plate 29 and extend at an angle upwardly as disclosed toadvantage in Figs. 3 and 4. From the foregoing description taken inconjunction with the accmpanying drawing it will readily be seen thatwhen the drawer is pulled outwardly from the position shown in Fig. 3 tothe position shown in Fig. 4, the last newspaper, designated by thenumeral 6 I, will fall on the bottom l3 in the lower housing. When thesaid drawer is pushed back inwardly the lower end of the said plate 29will pass above the said paper 6|, which paper will be in the space 34beneath the lower portion of the said plate as disclosed to advantage inFig. 3 and in which position is available to the customer. The balanceof the papers will be lifted above the dispensed paper 6| and will beretained on the said plate 29 and kept enclosed. It will thus be seenthat each time the drawer is pulled outwardly and then pushed backinwardly a newspaper will be placed in position available to the user.It will further be noted that when a coin is placed in the opening 42 ofthe plate 4|, which plate has the same thickness as the coin, the saidplate becomes one solid piece, inasmuch as having an even top and bottomsurface is concerned and will easily pass over the resilient pins 44,enabling the drawer to be pulled outwardly, and the said coin will dropthrough the recess 53 in the coin control mechanism housing 38 and intothe coin box 52 when the drawer has been pulled outwardly to its maximumposition, the bolts 25 extending through the slots 24 functioning as astop. When the drawer is pushed back to its normal position the firstpin 44 will be pushed by its respective coil spring 46, in the coinopening 42 provided in the plate 4|, looking the said plate andpreventing the said drawer from being pulled outwardly until a coin isagain placed in the said opening. A plurality of locking pins 44 areprovided as an additional safety factor to positively prevent the drawerfrom being pulled outwardly the necessary distance for dispensing apaper without depositing the proper coin. Any suitable means can beprovided to secure the machine in a fixed position. The door can beprovided with a window if desired for displaying a newspaper from theinside of the housing or any other suitable means can be provided fordisplaying the paper. Likewise any suitable means can be provided fordesignating when the machine is empty.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and thatvarious changes relative to the shape, size, material and arrangement ofparts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A vending machine of the character described comprising a housingcapable of retaining therein a plurality of newspapers or the like, anopening in the front wall at the lower end portion thereof, a drawerslidably mounted in the said housing and positioned through the saidopening, means defining inner and outer positions of the drawer, thesaid drawer being open at the rear and bottom portion thereof, the frontportion including a member extending inwardly at a downward angle andadapted to support the newspapers at the folded end portions thereofwhen the drawer is in its inner position and to release the newspapersto the bottom of the housing when the said drawer is pulled to its outerposition, the lower extremity of the said inwardly extending memberbeing spaced above the bottom of the housing a distance sufficient forenabling a newspaper to pass beneath the same, whereby a newspaper isplaced available to the user when the said drawer is pulled to its outerposition and pushed back to its inner position.

2. A vending machine of the character described comprising a housingcapable of retaining therein a plurality of newspapers or the like, anopening in the front wall at the lower end portion thereof, a drawerslidably mounted in the said housing and positioned through the saidopening, means defining inner and outer positions of the drawer, thesaid drawer being open at the rear and bottom portions thereof, a curvedplate positioned across the front of the drawer and adjustably securedthereto, the said plate extending at a downward angle in the drawer andadapted to lift the newspapers at the folded portions thereof when thedrawer is moved to its inner position and to release the newspapers tothe bottom of the housing when the said drawer is pulled to its outerposition, the lower extremity of the said plate being spaced above thebottom of the housing a sufiicient distance for enabling a newspaper topass beneath the plate, whereby a newspaper is placed available to theuser when the said drawer is pulled to its outer position and pushedback to its normal position.

STEWART S. BLANC.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Green Dec. 29,1903

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